That Blizzard In The Midwest Was Bizarre. Here's Why

If you look closely at this fresh-fallen snow in Mankato, Minnesota
Thursday, you can see brown from Texas dust blown into the storm system
Photo via Twitter, Mark Tarello @mark_tarello

Minnesota Public Radio is calling it the Tex-Mex blizzard.

In some parts of Minnesota and South Dakota, some of the snow that fell with the blizzard that hit the region over the past couple of days had a tan, brown or orange tint to it.

You couldn't use the phrase "pure as the driven snow" in this case.

The storm system was so strong that dust from New Mexico and Texas was drawn up from the south into the cold northern flank of the storm.

The dust mixed with the falling snow to produce the off-color snow. Voila! The Tex-Mex blizzard.

Hmmm. A mix of snow and dirt. I guess you can say it was snirting in Minnesota on Thursday.

Satellite images of the vast storm system showed winds gusting to 70 mph lifting huge clouds of dust in West Texas and propelling it northward.

This storm reminded me of the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. My late father remembered brown snow in Vermont in the 1930s as dust from the Great Plains came all the way to New England, mixing with the falling snow to give the drifts  a brown hue.

The National Weather Service/Twin Cities, Minnesota shared this
satellite image snowing blowind dust Wenesday over Texas that
drifted northward, causing brown snow in Minneota.

My husband Jeff grew up in South Dakota and he says he can remember a time or two when "snirt" fell - leaving a brownish wintry landscape. Still, this event was rare

There were other weird aspects of this storm. There is often thundersnow with this type of Plains storm. The parent system gets so strong that thunderstorms develop in the heavy snow bands.

However, this storm had an incredible amount of lightning, and there were reports of thundersnow with frequent lightning for two days.

The National Weather Service office in Aberdeen, South Dakota urged people to stay indoors there was so much lightning.

Severe thunderstorms are common during strong Plains systems like this one, but the severe weather almost always happen in the warm, moist air to the southeast of the storm's center.

In this case, there weren't that many severe thunderstorms in the warm sector. But very oddly, some severe thunderstorm warnings for large hail and gusts to 60 mph were issued in areas getting snow and sleet. That's very strange.  There were some reports of one-inch diamter hail in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

NEXT STORM OMINOUS

Areas in yellow, orange and especially red are at risk of severe thunderstorms
and tornadoes Saturday. Some of the tornadoes might be strong
and long-lasting. 

The next big storm system will develop tonight and tomorrow in Texas. This one looks more conventional, for the lack of a better word, than the last one with the "snirt" blizzard in the Plains. But this new storm seems much more dangerous.

As mentioned yesterday, this storm threatens a nasty tornado outbreak in the South over the weekend.  

If anything, latest forecasts up the chances of tornadoes, some possibly strong this weekend. The lower Mississippi Valley is the target Saturday, with the highest risk in northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas. 

Severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes will spread into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and the Southeast Sunday. It's Palm Sunday and churches will be busy. I'm no theologian, but I think God would want churches in these areas to have weather radio tuned in during services. God would also want congregations to have a plan to get to a safe area if a tornado warning is issued.

The storm system will reach New England Sunday night and Monday. Here in Vermont, it still looks like the storm could dump an inch or so of rain on us, and melting snow from the mountains will add to the runoff.

I suspect the National Weather Service will issue flood watches for the region that will go into effect Monday.